Guan Chong considered the matter carefully and said, "If Your Highness is willing, you can open up Jingzhou to recruit refugees, women and children, and disabled men. This would give the people a chance to settle down, and they will surely be grateful to Your Highness."
Jingzhou is the fiefdom of Prince Chen. Although he lives in the capital, he often returns to govern it because of its proximity. As a result, Jingzhou has become the most prosperous city in Beiyan besides the capital, Jinzhou.
It was precisely because of this that Prince Chen was often envied and targeted by the other princes, and even the emperor regretted giving Jingzhou to Prince Chen.
"But……"
Prince Chen hesitated, not because he was reluctant to part with them, but because Jingzhou already had a large population and very little farmland. Even if he took in these refugees, they would have a hard time surviving without land.
“Your Highness,” Guan Chong knew what he was worried about, so he said, “There is little fertile land in Jingzhou, but the refugees can cultivate it. As long as they take good care of it, it can become fertile land in three to five years. In the early stages, taxes can be reduced or exempted so that the refugees can get by.”
If the refugees improve their lives, it will be thanks to Prince Chen. Even if the emperor is incompetent, the court officials will still try to get the emperor to credit him for his achievements.
The problem now is that Prince Chen is already attracting a lot of attention, and if he does something like this again, he will inevitably get into trouble.
But this is no longer a problem to consider right now. If refugees are not resettled as soon as possible, riots may break out.
"Let it be arranged this way. I only hope that Father Emperor can understand the current situation soon."
As he spoke, Prince Chen sighed. The country is now beset by internal and external troubles. If we don't take this seriously, our demise will not be far off.
"yes."
Guan Chong turned to leave, but Prince Chen stopped him again: "Tell Qin Jian to come see me while you're at it."
Qin Jian returned from Nantai with this news. He had heard that he was being hunted by assassins from Nantai, and that his journey had been truly difficult.
When Qin Jian arrived, Prince Chen was writing a letter and made no attempt to conceal himself from him.
After a while, the letter was written and while waiting for the ink to dry, Prince Chen asked Qin Jian: "If it is indeed the people of Nantai who are chasing you this time, then your actions in Nantai will be even more difficult. You must be extremely careful when you return this time, and don't let Nantai ruin the great net that I have laid out for many years."
"Your Highness, rest assured, I understand."
"Yes, send the letter to Nantai and tell them that it's time to start closing in. Nantai has been acting up lately, so it's time to teach them a lesson."
"yes!"
Qin Jian took the letter and turned to leave. He knew the importance of the letter and dared not linger.
Meanwhile, in Ganzhou City, the Lu family searched everywhere outside the gate but couldn't find Lu Guilan's family. Instead, they found Xiaozhu's father and several other clansmen.
Lu Daping, Xiaozhu's father, suffered a severe leg injury, and after so much time, the wound became festering and looked completely useless. Now, his other leg is also swollen and in so much pain that he can't walk at all.
They thought they were going to die waiting outside the city gates, but they were able to see the Lu family and their own wife and children. The grown men were so excited that they shed tears.
Qi couldn't find her husband either. Seeing Xiaozhu and her family of three hugging and crying, she and her daughter silently wiped away their tears.
Sun was in no better shape. Ganzhou City was her last hope, and she thought her daughter would definitely be waiting for her there, but she couldn't find her anywhere.
"Third Uncle, it's so good to see you all again. We...we've had such a hard time these past few days!"
The speaker was Lu Fugui, the son of Old Man Lu's eldest brother. He was two years older than Old Man Lu, but after the hardships of the past few days, he looked more than ten years older.
Lu Fugui only had one young son. His wife and daughter were in poor health and starved to death on the road. It was only because he held his youngest son in his arms and protected him all day that he survived until now.
Now, fewer than thirty members of the Lu family have been found. Some were killed by bandits outside Liujia Town, some did not survive the journey, and some were even robbed several more times, leaving even fewer survivors.
Upon hearing this, Old Man Lu's eyes welled up with tears. He patted Lu Fugui's hand, but couldn't utter a single word.
Regardless, the Lu family decided to stay overnight outside the city to see if they could get any news of Lu Guilan's family. If not, they would go into the city to Anzhou.
Surrounded by refugees, the Yu family dared not cook, but only took out some dry food they had prepared to feed everyone. Lu Fugui and the others ate like they hadn't eaten in ages, wolfing down rice balls and almost choking to death.
After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, He Jiuniang went to check on Lu Daping's leg. According to the medical technology of this era, the only option would be to amputate the leg.
If she were to treat him, there might be a chance of a cure, but the problem is that her medical skills cannot be revealed at present.
"Jiu Niang, is my husband's leg really going to be useless?"
Cui'er wiped away her tears and asked He Jiuniang, "She's really suffering now. She was miserable when she couldn't find a man, and she's still suffering now that she has. Women really are made of water."
"Theoretically, yes."
He Jiuniang stroked her chin and nodded, while Cui'er cried even louder.
"Don't rush to cry. Once we get to the city, go to the pharmacy and buy some wound medicine to treat your injury. When we get to Anzhou, we can find a doctor to treat you. Maybe you can recover. Besides, as long as you're alive, that's better than anything else."
As she spoke, she gestured towards Qi Shi, who was not far away, indicating that Cui'er should go and see. Cui'er realized that Qi Shi had not found a man, so she quickly shut her mouth.
Indeed, compared to the Qi family, she was much luckier.
She whispered to He Jiuniang, "It costs money to go into the city. We can pool our money and get in, but what about the others?"
She was referring to a group of people who had just been found; they couldn't even fill their stomachs, let alone afford the three taels of silver needed to go to town.
"Let's see. No matter what, we can't abandon anyone."
He Jiuniang didn't care. The Lu family was wealthy now and could lend money to these clansmen to help them out.
But it still depends on what Sun and Old Man Lu do. After all, they can't lend the money for nothing. Otherwise, they'll become enemies if they don't repay the debt. That would be a huge loss.
Cui'er was immediately moved and said that everyone in their family was a very good person.
He Jiuniang returned to the Lu family's camp with an awkward smile and quietly asked Sun about her plan. Sun snorted coldly, "Do you need to tell me? Your father and I have already thought it through. We can lend money, but it won't be so easy to lend it out! Don't say anything in a while, just watch what your father says."
He Jiu Niang would never refuse; as long as you don't ask her, she'll agree to anything.
Sure enough, Lu Fugui arrived shortly afterward.
"Third Uncle, I heard you're going into town first thing tomorrow morning, but we... we don't have any money on us!"
Lu Fugui was very troubled. If he had money, he wouldn't have been waiting to die outside the city.
"Third Uncle, I know that times are tough these days, and your family is large and it's not easy for you either, but right now, your family is all we can rely on!"
As he spoke, Lu Fugui knelt down directly in front of Old Man Lu.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com